Am I the only straight person to not like Ann Hathway or Amanda Nonthreateningwhiteperson? Anyway rom-coms always seemed to have abit of a problem to me due to the fact that will they or won't they is hardly strong enough tension to hold up a plot on it's own. That said I actually like them , gasp shock horror, but as an escapist fantasy, a world where everyone is attractive and paired up his someone they like seem pleasent to me.

That said I anyone waiting for when we get to see a rom-com between a paedophile and a underage girl. I'm sure a suitably dark comic could do alot with it.

Towels:I was sold at "Anne Hathaway as a sexy free spirit." No Offense to all the other lovely ladies, but IMHO Anne Hathaway is the most beautiful actress of this generation. I could gaze into her bright smile and eyes all day.

I was a little worried her talent was getting relegated to the "Pure Virtuous" Typecast.I am not at all completely familure with all of her movies, but I watched her go from Princess Diaries to Bridewars to Devil Wears Parada to...um...Get Smart. (Lets face it, not a good movie) Yeah, she has a sexy moment in Devil Wears Parada, but its just to contrast her loyal character. In Get Smart, her character's sexieness just felt contrived because of the omoage to the original character she was portraying. (And yeah, Anne's characters all had spirit, but it took a back seat to the virture in those movies.)

But as a genuine, sexy, free spirit... Horray. I guess what I'm looking for in this movie is her spirit taking the lead over her usual virtuosity... oh and her hot naked body.

I actually liked the spirit. I don't know why everyone was so hard on it, sure it was over-done and parts made no sense, but it was funny, a decent satire of overblown superhero noire and just a simple fun movie that was style for the sake of style.but I still have no desire to see this movie.

Rom coms that don't suck...?? 500 days of summer, Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and, for those of us who lived through the eighties, when Harry met Sally..As for those banging on about realism and believability, if you filmed someones normal relationship and put it on screen no one would be able to stay awake during the screening no matter how "believable" it was!! Yeah two models working for a viagra company who end up in a chase scene involving a bus and a load of senior citizens..seems realistic to me!!

I previously had no interest in seeing this movie and now...I still have no interest in seeing this movie. Just because there is more sex does not make a movie or its characters more "real". The very idea that dealing more with sex in a movie makes a relationship more beleavable goes to illistrate a total lack of understanding about how a relationship works. Yes, most romanitc comadies suck and gues what alot of those also deal with sex (I'm pretty sure Julia Roberts was a hooker in Pretty Woman). There are good romantic comodies that take an honest look at the characters involved and how human beings relate to each other. To prove my point here are two romantic comadies that dont suck "Chasing Amy" and "Scott Pilgram vs the World"

you could call it the second rising of kubrick and i still wouldent be interested, why you may ask as you stroke your beard, well for once, i notice and hate cliches more than any other human alive, which sadly means that i can rarely enjoy a comedy, and secondly, i dont find sex funny, and i really dont think its anything new, sex has seemed to be the punchline of every joke in every movie aimed at "me" since i have been alive, and for the thrill of seeing ann hataway (or something) naked even if that did intrest me there would always be mr.skin or google image search.

I think most romantic comedies don't work because romance and comedy are actually much better as supporting genres than like the genre that runs the movies.

Pesronally I like that one romance movie where the english lady lives in the cali girls house and vice versa. It has Jack black playing his most restrained version of himself ever(which is a plus for me the dork act gets old real fast) My mom's favorite and I kinda like it too it has jack nickleson as the main character in as good as it gets. That's a nice movie the romance is kinda hard to pay attention too but jack being snarky, Cuba playing the tough gay guy and a adorable dog to boot well. That's a nice movie.

Bob, I have to disagree with your analysis somewhat. I don't think its the absence of sex that makes so many RomComs bad - so much the absence of 'actual' romanticism. Romance, going by its literary origins, was, to make a gross simplification, about grand excesses of emotion and radical idealism often in the face of harsh realities.

What many romantic comedies lack is the 'excess' part. It's difficult to believe that the love being portrayed in the film is this great meaningful, all-consuming thing when it faces so little in the way of real, tangible obstacles. Most of the time the only major point of conflict in your bog standard RomCom is the characters continually asking, "Oh! But do I really like him/her enough to change my lifestyle?"

Oh how dramatic! Hold me!

*yawn*

When the great conflict that's fuelling the drama upon which your story hinges basically boils down to your characters own indecision - and not even interesting psychotic crazy-ass indecision. Just boring mundane 'I can't decide to which shirt to wear to the party' indecision - then the stakes in your story aren't just low - they're non-existent.

A true romantic story is meant to make you feel, even if only for a moment, that if these two people do not get together it would be a world ending tragedy worse than death that would ruin their lives and the lives of those around them. The stakes are high and things might not work out for the best.

In Romeo & Juliet, the lovers kill themselves because they rather die than live without each other.

In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff commits horrific vindictive acts of vengeance on two generations of the Linton's and the Earnshaw's because he couldn't be with the women he loved.

Even in Pride And Prejudice, which is often considered the grand daddy of 'light' melodramatic love stories, Elizabeth and Darcy are basically having to go against all the class politics that govern their society to consummate their love.

In comparison the romantic element of the average cookie cutter RomCom is, at best, tepid and gutless.

MovieBob mentioned having sexual attraction towards women and action movies!Activate all-purpose whining modules now! Pew pew!There are unsupervised children watching this and I won't have you soiling their minds with talk of that dirty, filthy, ungodly biological process you call s*x.

I have been compiling a list of these for many years. I've not seen this yet, but if it makes the grade, I think I'll be up to 5.The other 4 are Annie Hall*, High Fidelity, When Harry Met Sally and (500) Days of Summer. Looking at these, I would have to disagree with MovieBob's emphasis on the need for sex in RomComs. None of the 4 movies feature sex scenes (although they did feature pre and post coital scenes). They were good movies because they had:

1. Good writing2. Good directing/cinematography3. Good acting

which I firmly believe is all that is necessary and sufficient for a good movie.The fact that 3 of 4 of them were written by men (and from the males perspective) may have something to do with it, also the fact that 2 of them end in a breakup.

*one of the few comedies to win the Best Picture Oscar. If you check out one movie from the list, check this one.

Firstly, Last Samurai and Blood Diamond were fucking legendary. Djimon Hounsou was screwed out of the Oscar by the old Hollywood boys network of it being Alan Arkins turn.

For the last time, having some attractive girl get naked in the film does not make it better. Just thrown on some porn if that's what you're after. You said this with Pirahna, Machete and god knows how many others. It stops me taking your views at all seriously.

So Hollywood only understands men of the age 18-40? I guess that explains why nothing has grossed too high in the recent years. Oh fuck wait, what was that recent movie about a bunch of blue motherfuckers dicking around in happy-tree-land? And every Pixar film ever. Sure, rom-coms are a bad genre which typically only satisfy girls for a night-in/sleepover-esque movie which they'll happily take the piss out of while watching (like guys can do with 300 and other action movies), but these days dramas and thrillers are almost universally appealing to both sexes. I see things like The Departed or Fight Club playing at a local cinema - the crowd is split almost 50:50.

I'll happily give this movie a watch because I've enjoyed some romantic comedies in the past. But something has happened to your reviews recently which makes them shit. What up?

I'll happily give this movie a watch because I've enjoyed some romantic comedies in the past. But something has happened to your reviews recently which makes them shit. What up?

Are you sure something hasn't happened to you recently? Bob's reviews don't seem to have changed at all. Chances are you just don't agree with what's been said. Unfortunately, one insignificant opinion alone (because let's face it, our opinions alone are always insignificant) doesn't change the quality of somebody elses work.

Anyway, interesting to see a film like this reviewed by Bob. Alas, not enough to convince me to see the film - the sort of thing I'd really only go to see if I had some human female to go with.

I liked a lot of his older reviews and shared the same opinion. But these days in every single review we hear how such-and-such hot chick gets her clothes off and the film is all the better for it, or how Hollywood is killing the industry.

The idea that all opinions are insignificant is one that I'd plead you to recant. If that were a universal truth, then society would percieve the world to be flat with the universe revolving around it, ruled over by a capricious, schizophrenic deity who decreed that white men were the purest of races and the teachings of an old book should govern our every action. Never underestimate the power of a single, intelligent, reasoned voice.

Funny because anyone who knows me knows that I DESPISE WITH A BURNING PASSION romantic comedies. But the people who know me best know that it's my favourite genre.

I'll give you a couple examples for you to compare.

(500) Days of Summer

It's an indie movie so it's really purely about the love and the laughs. No outside influence, no stupid backstory, no painful drama. It's a romantic comedy centred around romance and comedy. That's it biggest asset. And it works really well. It's kind of one of those old "We've all been there," kind of films and that's what gives it its power. It has its many faults, but those pale in comparison to the great dialogue and visually sweet directing.

Annie Hall

Woody Allen is really a genius in his work here. Again, it's not about anything else other than the romance and the comedy. We see these two people fall in love, they realise they're just not right for each other, and then they fall out of love. It's very pure and it all feels like a dream once it's finished because you could have sworn that you yourself ruined a relationship due to your narcissism or superiority complex or commitment issues. It's witty and it's sarcastic, but it never looks down on the viewer.

NOW, let's look at movies like "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days"

I remember having been forced to watch this movie in high school for an essay and my God, did that movie piss me off to no extent. And here's a few reasons why.

-EVERYONE IS SHALLOW AND VACUOUS: Come on, Hollywood. "Independent young aspiring female who wants to help the Earth," is NOT decent writing. And yet, she has no personality other than that. The main male gets it worse off, whoever he was.

-People don't fall in love through montages and cute scenes: If every girl I had a nice and awkward evening with fell in love with me, I'd be a God damn pimp but they don't. Falling in love, Believe it or not, is a slow process by which someone realises that the other one can make them happy, regardless of what happens. If you're breaking up with them in under a week because of a superficial trust issue, then IT'S NOT LOVE.

-Cliché: This one is self-explanatory. While there's clichés in every facet, here's how you write a character for a romantic comedy. You think of their past, you think of how their past would affect their current life-style, and you think about what implications that would have as to how they interact with others. You don't think "guy in his 30's with an ego". THAT'S LAZY.

Firstly, Last Samurai and Blood Diamond were fucking legendary. Djimon Hounsou was screwed out of the Oscar by the old Hollywood boys network of it being Alan Arkins turn.

For the last time, having some attractive girl get naked in the film does not make it better. Just thrown on some porn if that's what you're after. You said this with Pirahna, Machete and god knows how many others. It stops me taking your views at all seriously.

So Hollywood only understands men of the age 18-40? I guess that explains why nothing has grossed too high in the recent years. Oh fuck wait, what was that recent movie about a bunch of blue motherfuckers dicking around in happy-tree-land? And every Pixar film ever. Sure, rom-coms are a bad genre which typically only satisfy girls for a night-in/sleepover-esque movie which they'll happily take the piss out of while watching (like guys can do with 300 and other action movies), but these days dramas and thrillers are almost universally appealing to both sexes. I see things like The Departed or Fight Club playing at a local cinema - the crowd is split almost 50:50.

I'll happily give this movie a watch because I've enjoyed some romantic comedies in the past. But something has happened to your reviews recently which makes them shit. What up?

You know the main target audience for Avatar? Males ranged 18-45. Because there's explosions, the protagonist is a young male that we aspire to, and that the love interest is a feisty but submissive female. Pixar films work because, well, they're kids films. Not really representative of Hollywood. He doesn't say "all films", just the people who make the painfully generic stuff like that Tom Cruise movie which nobody cared about.

Oh, and in response to the actual video... Without having seen it, no. I don't think sex is the deciding factor in those films. I think it's what the movie is focused on and what the characters are like. And yes, I get what you're saying, but it's not always the deciding factor in these things. I'm sure people have seen someone, been attracted to them, but only thought, "I'd just like a hug... Nothing more. Sex could ruin it."

Anyway...I'm still intrigued about this film, and if it actually is quite good, then I'll be happy. I'll be waiting for the DVD though. Nothing about it screams, "Pay a lot of money at a theatre to see this!"

Instead, I'll stay away from the theatre until both The Fighter and True Grit come out.

Or maybe if I can get downtown to see Fair Game, I'll go for that.

Actually, Bob, did you get to see Fair Game? If you did, please, oh please let me know how it was. This was the film I really wanted to see this month, and I might not be able to. :/

Alright, alright. Let's back the fun bus right up here and forget about romantic comedies for two seconds to address something that I've noticed in a lot of Moviebob's stuff as well as in a whole damn heap of internet videos and articles as of late.

The Sword of Damocles. I know this ancient Greek myth has a lot of important symbolism that is easily applied to modern stories and situations, but come on. Can we move on to something else now? At first I thought using that particular Greek tale was cool when I first heard it used in... oh I don't remember, but now that I've heard it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (and yes I did type all of those "and over"s without copy and pasting), it's getting a tad old.

The collective intelligence that is the internet's article and video making community needs to read a bit more outside of the small selection of literature they constantly cite ad infinitum.

Aside from that, though, I enjoyed Love Actually. I know that makes me a sappy woman, but I don't care.

Finally! A review i can disagree on! Thank you for your simple-minded views on the relationship engine as you call it...Sex. There's quite a large number of minority, gay, and other non white class people who can agree with the ordinary rom-com formula simply because of its abstinence-loving relationships. Its the idea that sex is what drives love thats got us fucked up in the marriage, relationship part of our lives anyway, or so i believe. So using the fact that the two leads have sex on screen as a reason for the film and characters to feel real and believable is just you yourself mentioned, immature and kind of a perv! But hey, thats your opinion, this is mine! Keep in touch bro!

Diligent:My reason for disliking romantic comedies, apart from the aforementioned wishy-washy PG crap is the predictably formulaic plot, and if this movie follows it I don't think any amount of good acting or nudity could save it for me. Great review though!Step 1: boy meets girl or girl meets boy.Step 2: they like eachotherStep 3: guy bangs some other girl and main girl is upsetStep 4: new girl quickly turns out to be wrong for the guy or evilStep 5: main girl and guy make up in a spectacular and/or public fashionStep 6: final kiss and roll creditsStep 7: ???Step 8: Profit.

Fixed.

Hmm, this looks like an interesting movie. I don't hate rom-coms as much as the average straight guy, so I will probably watch this if I get a chance.

370999:Am I the only straight person to not like Ann Hathway or Amanda Nonthreateningwhiteperson?

You should never ask if you're the only one because, as in this case, you are not. I find Amanda Seyfried to be, quite honestly, strange looking and while she does have a nice body her face is way too distracting for me to ever consider her attractive.

As for Anne Hatheway, I agree there as well. She has that Julia Roberts thing where as long as her mouth is closed she is very fetching.. and then she smiles and you feel as if all are going to be blinded by the giant teeth and then consumed by the cavernous jaws of doom. There's a lot to be said for proportion and symmetry when it comes to attractiveness.. and both Roberts and Hatheway do not have it.

I can't believe how dumb this review was. "No tangible link to reality." Yeah, I didn't like those movies either, but you seem to have a very aggravating grasp of what reality or a relationship is. I'm not sure if you've even SEEN people in a relationship bob, you just might be surprised as to what they actually do when with one another (here's a hint, the majority doesn't revolve around sex.) but mybe that's because I'm Canadian and, in some places, there are higher valued things, like whether a person is or isn't genuinly likeable, not whether they have a good build and are good in bed.